Anna Webster, student at the Cass, London Metropolitan University’s School of Architecture, designed a simple but sturdy house that fits right into the Ghanaian countryside where it has been built. Webster created the design as part of a competition that called for proposals to build a single-family home in the Ashanti region of southern Ghana. The house combines traditional earthen walls with recycled plastic screens to demonstrate a practical style of building that can be utilized throughout the region, while also demonstrating how mud can be a beautiful addition to modern construction techniques.

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French architect Jacques Rougerie has envisioned a giant floating city which bears a striking resemblance to a manta ray. He discusses his love for the ocean in an interview, where he calls himself a “mérien,” a term he coined which translates to “one belonging to the sea.” His dream is for likeminded individuals to populate his City of Mériens, to conduct research on the surrounding ocean.

In India, the suicide rate among farmers is an alarming 47 percent higher than workers in other sectors, and the figures continue to rise year after year. Environmental activists are blaming the deaths on Monsanto, the multinational corporation that has the market cornered on the insecticide-infused crop known as Bt Cotton. The genetically modified cotton contains Bacillus thuringiensis bacterium, from which it gets its name, and Monsanto‘s fierce restrictions concerning the saving and selling of seeds has put an enormous stress on farmers. Read on to learn more about the controversy between Monsanto and environmental activists in India.

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The art-loving city of Vail, CO just added another custom playground to its streets. Sun Bird Park is an urban jungle gym that doubles as an art installation! Designed by Denver-based Tres Birds Workshop, the playground features three giant cocoon-like birds' nests with connecting bridges and slides. The architects designed the urban park to strengthen the connection between humans and the natural environment - and it looks like a whole lot of fun.

With roughly 32 percent of the world's population living in informal communities throughout the globe, the need for sustainable, humane housing is more pressing than ever. Responding to this, Doug Sharp of BSB Design conceived the tiny Abod Shelter - a sustainable, lightweight home for slum dwellers that can be built by their owners in just one day.

Earlier this month, we reported the sad news that Edith Macefield’s iconic Seattle home likely faced demolition, after its new owners determined it would be too expensive to renovate as a coffee shop. The bungalow came to share a city block with a shopping center in the downtown neighborhood of Ballard, WA when Macefield, the home’s former owner, refused to sell her property to developers. The now-vacant home, a symbol for anti-corporate struggles, has reportedly been saved from the chopping block and will remain intact, thanks to a yet-to-be-named nonprofit organization.

Even England’s royalty can’t resist a good treehouse. Prince Charles recently renovated a portion of the Highgrove gardens into a royal woodland playground with a treehouse for his two-year-old grandson, Prince George. The new toddler wonderland is located in The Stumpery, a playground designed by William Bertram for the then five and three-year-old princes, William and Harry. The original design included a thatched roof treehouse, designed for William’s seventh birthday, which has now been relocated and passed down to Prince George.

While the world is still mourning the loss of Cecil the lion, news circulated that his brother Jericho was killed yesterday by poachers hunting illegally in the park. However, Brent Stapelkamp, the Oxford University researcher tracking the lion, dismissed the erroneous reports of death and confirmed that Jericho is still alive and well. Oxford University tweeted a photo of Jericho earlier today as proof of life.

Melbourne-based Architecture Architecture has turned an entire house around to get the most out of the area's northern exposure. When the owners of an aged Victorian-era home decided it was time to renovate, the innovative Australian architects saw the potential of moving the home's boundaries to create an ultra-luminous open floor plan. With just a little creativity and much strategic building technique, the Turnaround House now has a beautiful sunny, north-facing courtyard that extends from the open kitchen and living area.

The Cassina Refuge Tonneau is a cozy mountain shelter designed by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret in 1938. The futurist spaceship-like structure was inspired by children’s fairground rides: Perriand conceived the shelter as a metal shell with a central pole, similar to a carousel.

Value Farm is an amazing urban agriculture project in Shenzhen, China that encourages locals to participate in a collective farming effort. Thomas Chung, together with Tris Kee and Chi Fai Fung, transformed an open area within Ole Bouman’s Value Factory from an abandoned industrial facility into an expansive farm that flourishes with a smorgasbord of edible plants. Projects like this could also go a long way towards improving food security for the world's most populous nation.

Wish you could set off on your epic trip across America without giving up on the daily comforts? You’ll love the Escape Traveler, a fully outfitted home-on-the-go that can be moved just about anywhere like an RV. Despite its compact and portable size, the energy-efficient tiny home feels spacious, comes with a whole range of full-sized appliances, and can even sleep up to six.

Designer Benjamin Shine has created a brilliant regenerative candle holder that transforms melted wax into a fresh new candle! The Rekindle Candlestick lets users reuse a candle over and over again by collecting the wax in a tube as it burns. To reuse the candle wax, a fresh wick just needs to be introduced into the tube of newly melted wax. Although the quantity of wax reduces slightly with each cycle, a typical candle can be reused at least twelve times after the first burn.

A little company called SunPort has launched a crowdfunding campaign that could change the clean energy game in a new way. SunPort is a smart device that looks like an ordinary outlet extender, but it does something pretty spectacular. This smart little gadget lets you power anything with solar energy without the need for solar panels. It’s completely portable, too, so green-minded techies can take advantage of renewable energy at home, at school, or on the road, all with one little plug.

The Cacoon hanging tent is the perfect place to escape from it all. Part hammock, part tent, it’s an indoor/outdoor cocoon that can travel wherever you go – even if you never leave your home. Built to resist wind, rain and sea, the Cacoon comes in two handy sizes and any color you can dream up.